>> 12-year-old maryland student under arrest accused of bringing a gun to school. >> it sent off alarms in waldorf at mattawoman middle school. it is what he planned to do with the gun that has been speaking out now.

>> the student is just 12 years old and told police he brought the gun from home and planned on selling it after getting off the school bus yesterday afternoon. >> police are stationed at the middle school where police found a gun and noted in a student's locker yesterday morning. what is not clear is how long the gun had been there. >> word got around he wanted to sell it. >> parents from the middle school and elementary school drop off their children and hoping to get more details. charles daughter knows the 12 year old that was arrested. >> it is an uncomfortable feeling. something could have really happened. >> police were told the student not only carry the gun into the school but was intending to sell it after class. >> i do not really blame the children. >> this parent says she is not exactly surprised. >> i have had my own situation with my son bullying.

i approached the children and approached me like i had never known. >> a letter and email were explaining what happened. >> kids take stuff out of the house. >> there's a police officer in the school, too. i don't know how that happened. >> the student has been charged with possession of a deadly weapon. it is not clear this afternoon who he was trying to sell it to and who actually owned the gun. >> thank you, john. storm watch, fire officials say lightning may be to blame for a fire that damaged a home this morning in silver spring. flames started just before 6:00. firefighters arrived to find flames reaching from the back of this two-story home. the residents made it out safely. along with lightning, the

morning storms dumped heavy rain including in arlington. this was just before the sun came up. the storms have cleared more wet weather be on the way. here's a look at the forecast. >> we have the morning showers and thunderstorms, over an inch of rain in parts of montgomery, damascus, and even southern frederick county. we could see an isolated storm later today. that will be the exception. the time lapse from great falls virginia, notice the fog in the bottom part of your screen. a few peeks of sunshine in the clouds broke. variable cloud cover across the region. plenty of sunshine in prince william county. for the to the east of the metro, you have heavy cloud cover. 56 in chesapeake beach. 73, a gainesville. low to mid-70s this afternoon. it looks like we will have the

marine layer tomorrow morning in effect. >> the downpours this morning could hardly keep clouds away from downtown. the national cherry blossom festival officially under way as of today. we go live to the tidal basin with what you need to know. >> they have been planning for a few days. -- blooming few days. the celebration will be longer because it is the centennial celebration. we have been here all morning long. people have been out here. a lot of people say this is one year they could not mess. >> we planned the trip to d.c. and did not know we would be so lucky as to catch the cherry blossoms. >> this chicago resident considers the cherry blossoms a national treasure. >> glorious. we were telling the children how lucky they were to see the checkers a memorial looking like this. >> thousands lined the perimeter

on this first official day of the cherry blossom festival. it almost feels like the festival has been going on for several days as the iconic flowers are already in peak bloom. it is several weeks earlier than normal. >> mother nature wanted to come out in the beginning for her show. the festival goes beyond the balloons and we're planning for more wonderful weeks. >> the next five weeks of the center and a celebration will feature dozens of family from events including the big parade on april 14. more than 1 million people are expected to visit. organizers said the number of visitors is up due to the earlier than normal warmer weather. >> we have been here before and needed here months. it was much nicer critics agreed storm cut the clouds away crown-- the way for a couple of hours, the crowds were back to capture this moment in history. >> it is wonderful the have.

>> a lot of folks taking pictures out here and enjoying the sites and one of those paddle boats along the tidal basin. this sunday will be the official opening ceremony of the cherry blossom festival at the d.c. convention center. tickets are free, although organizers say you need to register online. we have a link to get to that website on wjla.com. >> thank you. new details emerging about the army staff sergeant accused of killing more than a dozen afghan civilians. the attorney for robert bales says the decorated combat veteran does not remember the actual shooting. he is accused of killing 16 afghan civilians, most were women and children, who were sleeping in a remote village. we're learning more about the 38-year-old married father of two's past. under investigation for fraud

and an ohio man said he cheated him out of his entire life savings. >> how much did you lose? >> everything. >> bales to pay a settlement, but never did so. he is to meet this lawyer's letter today. -- his lawyers later today. >> french authorities say new 90's may be behind the shooting spree that killed a rabbi and three children rid of the gunmen drove up on a motorcycle wearing a camera on his chest and a half on the attack. hundreds of police are blanketing southern france looking for the shooter. the army >> national guard honoring the military officer killed in afghanistan. major robert merchanti arrest this afternoon. the 48-year-old major was shot to death last month. it is believed it was in retaliation to the burning of

the koran american military base. this was his first deployment to afghanistan. >> republican voters in yet another battleground state pick who they want to take on president obama this fall. despite the big leap in illinois by mitt romney, opponents are showing no signs of giving up. >> presidential hopefuls are vying for votes today in illinois as the residents in the prairie state get their chance to weigh in on the race for the white house. leading in the polls, mitt romney is looking to walk away with another win it santorum is also hoping to land in the top spot. the 54 delegates up for grabs of back-and-forth battle between the two over the past 24 hours. >> we're not going to be successful in replacing an economic light weight with another economic light weight. >> i heard governor romney called me and economic light weight because i was not a wall

street's financier like he is . >> whoever gets the nomination may have a tough time against obama in the swing state of virginia in the general election. obama leads romney 50% to 42%. he edges out santorum 49% to 40%. newt gingrich is hoping to get better numbers in louisiana saturday. this morning was speaking about energy, he compared insult to the president. >> i want jobs in louisiana. alabama want jobs in saudi arabia. i with the royalty money from oil to go to the louisiana state government and he wanted to go to the saudi government. >> one of the candidates is expected to be in our area. mitt romney is to campaign in maryland with the former governor. maryland's primary is april 3. >> our coverage continues, our news partners of politicao will

be live on our news sister station 8. the require >> it is being laid to rest. friends and loved ones are holding a final for heather mcguire in rockville. she was shot and killed in kensington days after getting a protective order against phillip gilberti. and six children, the industry fathered by gilberti in a. , dangerous storms, tornadoes and flooding pounded residents in texas. it is not over yet. evidence in a phone call, the police as a key clue in the killing of the 17-year-old boy? hillary clinton >>'s new cause. >> warming and could blow in.

>> the pressure is mounting on police in florida or the fbi is investigating the controversial shooting of a 17-year-old. >> he was killed three weeks ago by neighborhood watch volunteer. the case is sparking public outcry. >> it is potentially damning evidence in the case of trayvon martin, the u.n. and a 17-year- old shot to death by neighborhood watch captain. martin was on his cellphone with

a 16-year-old girl surely before his death. the conversation please apparently missed in their initial investigation. >> he said they were watching him. >> she spoke to the martin family attorney about what she heard. >> somebody pushed him. >> the line went dead. seconds later, he was shot by george zimmerman who made this call to 9-1-1. >> are you calling him? >> yes. >> zimmerman confessed to the shooting clamming self-defense. martin's family says he was murdered, that the man had only stepped out to buy candy and iced tea. college students rallied monday in florida to demand zimmerman's arrest. the u.s. justice department has launched an independent review of the evidence. martens that leads the zimmerman has not been arrested so far because his son was black.

>> it would have been totally different. there would have been a thorough investigation. all of the proper procedures would have been followed. arrests would have been made. definitely. >> authorities say even if there is enough evidence, then maybe hamstrung by state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force. >> we have breaking sports news, peyton manning is officially a denver bronco. sources said the negotiations are complete. yesterday, the former super bowl champ and announced his plan to go to denver. it is believed manning is cutting a five-year deal worth about $95 million. the question becomes what happens to tim tebow? it will soon be easier for some travelers to get through airport security the reagan national

airport. the tsa unveiled the new pre check lane south checkpoint in terminal b. expedites the screening process for passengers who volunteer information about themselves prior to flying. >> people in texas and nearby states are bracing for another wild day of storms. at least one tornado was reported. several homes were damaged and people were trapped inside. thousands of people lost power in the storms as well. dozens of flights out of dallas/fort worth airport were canceled. the fear is flash flooding as areas have suffered dry spells and could get up to 1 foot of rain today. >> we were here eating some rumbling this morning. >> we had some lightning strikes. silver spring montgomery county had over an inch of rain in some places. >> and it just cleared.

>> the rain is done. we are still dealing with some marine layer. the flow of the ocean giving us low clouds in the morning. that will be the case again tomorrow. here's the time lapse. you know it. you can see the drops and the camera lens. the sky cleared a little. the clouds come and go. you can see the race in the distance. >> that is what that is. >> when you see the sunshine between the clouds. the variable cloud cover across the region. this is another vantage point. notice the distinct clearing in virginia, especially from prince william county down 95. that is where we have the temperatures spiking. clouds are only about 600 feet

closer to the bay and closer to the ocean, the source of the low-level moisture. dulles airport, 71 degrees. 68 reagan national. 68 at quantico. 60 at annapolis. look at the wider view. spring and early summer temperatures in the eastern half of the west. chicago, 77. look at montana, only 32. texas, 41 in santa fe. here's the reason. i want to point out showers and thunderstorms we touched on earlier than in texas because of a big dip in the jetstream. that is a sharp dip all the way into mexico that is drawing that cooler air southward. it with a rich or pushed upward in the job stream -- and that sucks the warm air north up to

the hudson bay. tonight, increasing clouds of the easterly flow of the a atlantic. more fog will develop. we may have a dense fog advisory in the morning. it to our afternoon, sunshine. -- tomorrow afternoon, sunshine. upper 60's to mid 70's when we clear out. friday, 82 it reads -- . that is still far from a record. >> happen with the roof cam lightning? >> still working on a bed. >> we will give a couple of days. >> hillary clinton waiting to the rays to an end 20th century's most enduring mysteries. clinton met with historians and

scientists wanting and a mission to find the wreckage of amelia earhart's airplane. she was trying to become the first woman to fly round world when their airplane disappeared without a trace in the south pacific. her body has never been found. >> coming up, the 60-year-old reign diamond jubilee been marked. >> ashton kutcher shooting for the stars. >>

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queen elisabeth. produced comic a celebrated her 60th anniversary on the throne. the queen publicly. -- both houses of parliament presented her with a special stained-glass window marking her diamond jubilee. >> my board and members of the house of commons, this great institution has been throughout has been a constant strength and guide. he and nine are very proud and grateful that the prince of wales and other members of our family are traveling on my behalf in this diamond jubilee year to visit all the commonwealth rounds and a number of other commonwealth countries. >> just a little bit of with the queen had to say. the main celebrations will be later this year in june.

>> actor ashton kutcher is headed in the space. he has reserved a $200,000 seat on the virgin galactic spacecraft. it is not clear when he will take flight the spacecraft's are still in test mode. when cleared for takeoff, it will fly about 60 miles above the earth's surface. >> think he will punk buddy there? >> you only go 60 miles for $200,000? i guess you got money to burn.

>> you can go to wjla.com /facebook and sign up for the chance to win one of the new ipads just released last week. we will announce the winner friday at 5:00. >> two days into this week, how are we looking four >> even more sunshine going into thursday and friday. 82 on friday. it looks like we will cool down this weekend with an upper level storm system lingering this weekend as of now, off and on through the weekend, rain. we will keep modifying it. no record-breaking high temperatures, but still well above average.